Groan aggressively bit sister twice, but did not cause injury to her. Groan licked Grizz's hind leg and received a soft bite and then she licked him some more.
Archives
Growled and barked at staff when awakened. Howling often appears to be followed by defecation. Followed a rope bone for about 4 ft. then laid down. Increasing coordination and mobility-can walk distances of 10-15 ft. without falling. Was very relaxed during T-Touch demonstration.
Has been steadily gaining weight. Grizz has been highly active, howling off and on for about a half hour. When staff approached him, he ran away with a tucked tail. He has been feeding vigorously and regularly.
Malik displayed what appears to be classic wolf behavior. When a higher ranking wolf is weak, take advantage of it. On Saturday, there appears to have been some unauthorized people behind the enclosure (see Shadow's logs) and with Shadow's natural personality to be leary of strangers, his intimidation seemed to be an opening for Malik. On Saturday evening's feeding, Malik dominanted the carcass, driving Shadow away from the food and giving Grizzer grief until Grizzer rolled over. In Sunday's log book, Intern Mary Murphy wrote; Malik is acting very confident while Shadow is strangely passivc. Shadow didn't come down for meds for a long time, and then let the others push him out of the way. He was not being assertive at all, with lowered head and half lowered tail. A few minutes later, he let Grizzer push him away from the water bucket. While it's not our habit to intervene on the pack dynamics, the staff will be paying attention to Shadow as the dominant male and will work to regain his confidence.
Maya seems relaxed despite Shadow's difficulty with strangers at the back of the enclosure. All the wolves are showing signs of intolerance to the heat. Maya seems to be the smallest surface area and doesn't seem to pant as much as the others. She does seem to spend more time in the upper enclosure than the other wolves, but during a wolf check, she always comes down and finds a cool concrete pad to rest on.
On Saturday, Wolf Care Staff, Andrea Lorek Strauss reported the following: "…We entered the trail by the pine grove on the south side of the parking lot. We could hear voices from the north, but I couldn't see anyone. We were on the far side of the trail (by Hidden Valley Road) when three guys and a dog came brush crashing through the woods from the north of us. The dog was a small black lab-type… they were walking away from the wolf area…" While we have no trespassing signs posted, sometimes people ignore the signs and show up behind the wolf enclosure. In general, wolves don't like to be surrounded, especially by strangers. It makes sense that Shadow is most distressed by this incident as he is the pack leader, and the shyest personality when it comes to non-packmates.
Wolves in the wild or in captivity tend to like higher vantage points to watch the activities surrounding their pack. Wolves in the wild may use densites with rock outcroppings or dug dens in hillsides to be on the lookout for threats to their densite. In captivity, specifically the Retired Pack, the den boxes serve this purpose. Stimuli such as hides, meat, or bones are placed on the den boxes to peak the wolves interest. Although, Lakota is the only Retired Wolf able to climb on top of the boxes, all are interested in the stimuli. In this week's photo, Lakota is checking out another enrichment project.
In earlier logs, there was some concern about Lucas's mental state as they reach 13 years of age this week. Lately, he's been very interactive with staff and his littermates as well as showing more alert behavior towards his surroundings. His hearing and sight seem to be fine, but some days, he looks a bit confused. Today, was a good day, his eyes were alert to the sounds of staff in the wolf lab.
The pond was filled earlier this week and filters were put back in place. It took Maya all of 10 minutes to get at the filter and try to pull it out of the protective grate. The wolf care staff need to design a filter system that is protected from wolves. We are starting with a stainless steel grate that has less than 1/2 inch space between panels. This allows water to flow, but no wolf paws to fit in the panels. This type of curiosity towards anything new and different in the enclosure hints of a strong predatory drive. Wolves will use the ability to distinguish subtle changes in their prey that may make them vulnerable.
Shadow seems to be over the stress caused by unfamilar humans at the back of the enclosure. The instinct to fear humans is very strong, and even in a socialized wolf exhibit, may exist. Staff spent many hours this past week making sure Shadow was the first to be greeted when staff came into the enclosure, acknowledging his status as the dominant male, and his confidence noticeably improved.
The International Wolf Center uses science-based education to teach and inspire the world about wolves, their ecology, and the wolf-human relationship.